


Fluidity

by zarahjoyce



Category: Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Gaim
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-04
Updated: 2014-04-04
Packaged: 2018-01-18 03:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1413787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarahjoyce/pseuds/zarahjoyce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She watched him dance, and Mai crossed her arms. It bothered her that he bothered her and it was annoying how a part of her actually worried about him." Post ep-8.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fluidity

She’d always thought their dance moves were too stiff, too mechanical - like they were robots going through their movements because they were  _programmed_ to do so. It didn’t make them  _bad_ , per se, but it made Team Baron look like… well, like they weren’t having fun.

Most especially their leader, who was wearing the most severe expression imaginable. He was practically scowling at the audience, like he was silently scolding them for daring to watch him dance.

Mai wrinkled her nose.

At least she was getting ideas how to better Team Gaim’s performance in  _this_ manner.

-

Their paths never did cross that often, no matter how the media tried to play it up - especially when Team Gaim began rising up the ranks. Not that Mai minded - Kaito was not the friendliest of people, after all. And it wasn’t like the other guys in Team Baron were any nicer.

Really, they were better off this way.

-

Then _that_ day happened.

-

Objectively, Team Baron’s techniques didn’t change - they still lacked the fluidity that made dancing a cause for someone’s smile.

But ever since that day, Mai began to notice things she never saw before. She realized there was a certain grace to Kaito’s movements, despite how forceful he’d made them look. What she thought was robotic and mechanical before now seemed a display of strength. _Character_. He was _formidable,_ just like how he managed to protect her from the Invess, despite being severely wounded—

Her eyes were drawn to his arm, but the way he moved it made everyone think he was anything _but_ wounded.

She knew better.

She wondered if his arm was healing well, or if he’d done the foolish thing by going back to that dangerous place again—

Then she wondered _why_ she was even wondering about it in the first place.

-

One day, she turned around the corner - and bumped into him.

"Sorry!" she said automatically, before she realized _who_ she bumped into. “…Kaito?”

He clutched his arm, glared at her, and said nothing.

Her eyes rounded at his actions, and instinctively she stepped towards him. “Your wound’s not yet healed?” Then realization hit. “You— you went back, didn’t you?”

"That’s none of your business," he snapped, and moved to walk past her.

"Kaito!"

"Don’t follow me," he said, sparing her a backward glance. "You’ll only slow me down."

She gritted her teeth and glared at his back.

_Jerk._

-

She watched him dance, and Mai crossed her arms. It bothered her that  _he_ bothered her and it was annoying how a part of her actually worried about him.

Then their routine ended, and he paused and _looked_ at her, and Kaito’s brows drew together. His jaw tightened. He straightened his jacket and stalked away.

Mai wondered what _that_ was about.

-

"Stop watching me."

Mai blinked, caught off guard when Kaito seemingly appeared out of nowhere in front of her. “I— what?”

"I haven’t gone back to that forest." Kaito took something from his pocket - it turned out to be her handkerchief, the one she used to cover his wound. "That’s what you’re wondering about, isn’t it? Why you keep watching me?"

Mai could feel herself blushing at his insinuation, and she wished, with everything in her, that he’d think it was because it was cold and not because— “I wasn’t watching you!”

Then Kaito actually _smirked,_ and it was extremely hard to resist the urge to grab her handkerchief and just disappear far into the ground beneath them.

Instead, she forced out a laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself! After all, why should I?” she said, and with her head held high, she turned and walked away from him.

It was weird how she could _feel_ his eyes on her back, but she didn’t have enough courage to check if she was just imagining it.

-

_Stop watching me._

Mai found out she couldn’t.

Which made everything about him even more annoying.


End file.
